Friday, 27 July 2012

Dinner- Israel

Hi VEG,

My name is Nicole and I live with my 4-year old daughter Tal, in Israel. During the week, Tal is in full-time daycare and eats breakfast and a cooked lunch there. But Fridays and Saturdays she has a light lunch at home and then a cooked dinner.

Dinner today consisted of tuna salad (Tal’s request), rice crackers, pitted olives, cherry tomatoes, and freshly squeezed orange juice. In addition to what is in the photo, she asked for an extra rice cracker after she finished the first one, and another half glass of juice. After she finished, she ate a plain unsweetened yoghurt. The only vegetables Tal likes are cherry tomatoes, but she doesn’t seem to notice that I sneak cut-up red capsicum and cucumbers into the tuna salad – and she really likes that.

Food-O-Meter: 10/10 (Tal said “It’s yummy, this is my favorite dinner”)
Mouthfuls: about 60
Course: Dinner
Health Rating: 8/10 (I would like her to have more vegetables, and there is a bit of mayonnaise in the tuna salad, but otherwise I think it is OK)
Price: Approximately 12 shekels for her portion (£1.94)
Time spent eating: 50 minutes (and that was only because I hurried her up because we had to go out)
Pieces of hair: 0
Leftovers: None
Songs sung while eating: 3 (2 in English and 1 in Hebrew – Tal speaks two languages)

I think that is very kind of you (and smart!) to involve your daughter in choosing her dinner. She is much more likely to enjoy what she has picked herself. I also like to hear that you sing together, another way to help her eat faster, or slower, as needed by picking songs of the proper tempo!

Thanks astarid. Actually, I don't really encourage the singing at mealtimes, but Tal just loves to sing all the time.I forgot to mention that the reason the rice cracker is bare is because she likes to put the tuna salad on it herself.

I guess You could lower the amount of mayonaise in that tuna salad by thinning it with some milk or fruit juice (depending if it's of a more spice or fruity stile..). The mayonaise is just needed for the taste, not to be a main part of the salat ;)

And another mum had some success in hiding vegetables in other food, too. If I would have to try that, my first choice for hiding vegetables within would be homemade pasta dishes. Vegetable Sauce Bolognese, or Lasagne /Canelloni with a filling made from different vegetables.. or even homemade Ravioli with vegetable filling.If You make the ingrdients Yourself - like the tomato sauce.. thousands of easy recipes on the net.. - You have full control over what Your kid gets to eat.

The most important thing is: don't give up trying to teach Your kid what healthy food is. Try to make her eat healthy stuff she doesn't really like by rewarding her for eating it up. I bet there are many other tricks to be found on the internet, for "How to make Your kid eat (insert least favourite food here)" ;)

Hello there, Veg. I'm Jessie (21 years old) from Medan, nothern Sumatra, Indonesia (how many seconds,Veg?). I'm an English teacher of a private tuition centre here in Medan, and I teach primary children. Children in Medan usually have packed lunch from home to bring to their school,but some international curriculumed school do provide lunch for their students.

I really enjoy ur blog and love it since I'm a fan of cooking and eating,haha. And I really love to see all the meals from all over the world. My faves are Asuka's breakfast from Japan n here from Nicole so far,heehee. I really like the combination of the salad, veggies and the rice crackers. Maybe I'll try that sometimes. I thank you for the inspiration of cooking, Nicole ;) By the way,good luck with the Mary's Meal program, Veg. We really hope that we can feed all the children in need in the world. I also realize that in some parts in Indonesia there are still many children living in poverty and hunger, and we're doing our best to help them too. And last but not least,keep up with the good work updating this blog, Veg, Veg's Dad,and all of the participants. I really love seeing all these meals from all around the world,really broadens my horizon about cooking world!

Denise - in Israel, olives are commonly loved by children - Tal has been eating them for as long as I can remember (when she was younger I cut them up so they wouldn't be a choking hazard). I didn't grow up here, so I don't like them at all!